Better Homes and Gardens House Plans

Terms of Use

HOUSEPLANS.BHG.COM (“THE SITE”), POWERED BY THE HOUSE DESIGNERS, LLC (“THD”), AND ALL SITE-RELATED PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ARE SUBJECT TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS SET FORTH BELOW AND ANY AND ALL MODIFICATIONS THERETO (THE "TERMS AND CONDITIONS" OR “AGREEMENT”). PLEASE READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS CAREFULLY. BY USING THE SITE, LICENSING OR PURCHASING ANY SITE-RELATED PRODUCTS OR SERVICES, OR USING ANY SITE-RELATED PRODUCTS OR SERVICES, YOU ARE DEEMED TO HAVE EXPRESSLY AGREED TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS. IN ADDITION, WHEN USING PARTICULAR SITE-RELATED PRODUCTS OR SERVICES, YOU SHALL BE SUBJECT TO ANY POSTED GUIDELINES OR RULES APPLICABLE TO SUCH PRODUCTS OR SERVICES WHICH MAY BE POSTED FROM TIME TO TIME. ALL SUCH GUIDELINES OR RULES ARE HEREBY INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE IN THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

Registration

You must be at least 18 years old to access and use the Site and the Site-related products and services. The Site is not intended to be a children’s site.

You agree to: (a) provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself as prompted by the Site’s account sign-up form, e-newsletter sign-up form, cost-to-build estimator order form and modification estimate form and any other form on the Site (such information being the "Account Registration Data") and (b) maintain and promptly update the Account Registration Data to keep it true, accurate, current and complete. If you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, or THD has reasonable grounds to suspect that such information is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, THD has the right to suspend or terminate your account and refuse any and all current or future use of the Site and the Site-related products or services (or any portion thereof).

Linked Websites

The Site and Site-related Services may contain links to websites operated by third parties ("Linked Sites"). Linked Sites are not, however, reviewed, controlled or examined by THD in any way and you acknowledge and agree that THD and its sponsors are not responsible for the content, availability, advertising, products or other materials of any such Linked Sites or any additional links contained therein or for the actions of any such Linked Sites or any users of any such Linked Sites. In addition, it is your sole responsibility to comply with the appropriate terms of service of the Linked Sites, as well as with any other obligations under any laws, including, without limitation, copyright, defamation, decency, privacy, security and export laws, related to the use of the Linked Sites and any content available on or through such Linked Sites. You further acknowledge and agree that THD and its members, directors, officers, employees and agents shall not be liable, directly or indirectly, to any party for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the creation of, use of or reliance on the Linked Sites, any content, advertising, products or other material available on or through the Linked Sites or any additional links contained therein, or the actions of any such Linked Sites or any users of any such Linked Sites. You should direct any concerns that you may have regarding a Linked Site or user thereof to that site’s administrator or webmaster.

Void Where Prohibited

Although the Site is accessible worldwide, not all products or services discussed or referenced in or on the Site are available to all parties or in all geographic locations or jurisdictions. THD reserves the right to limit the availability of the Site and/or the provision of any Site-related products or services to any party, geographic area or jurisdiction it so desires, in its sole discretion, and to limit the quantities of any such products or services that it provides. Any offer for any products or services made on the Site is void where prohibited.

Code of Conduct

While accessing and using the Site and Site-related products or services, you agree not to:

Restrict or inhibit any other user from using and enjoying the Site and the Site-related products or services;

Upload, post, publish, email, reproduce, distribute or otherwise transmit any information, data, text, software, music, sound, photographs, graphics, video, messages or other materials (collectively, "Content") which is unlawful, fraudulent, harmful, threatening, hateful, abusive, embarrassing, harassing, tortious, libelous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, hateful, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, contains explicit or graphic descriptions or accounts of sexual acts, or is otherwise objectionable; without limiting the generality of the foregoing, "Content" shall also include all suggestions, comments, opinions, code, input, ideas, reports, information, know-how or other feedback provided by you (whether in oral, electronic or written form) to THD in connection with your use of the Site or the Site-related products or services (collectively, "Feedback");

Upload, post, publish, email, reproduce, distribute or otherwise transmit any Content that victimizes, harasses, degrades, or intimidates an individual or group of individuals on the basis of religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or other protected status;

"Stalk" or otherwise harass another party;

Harm minors in any way;

Impersonate any person or entity, including, but not limited to, a THD representative, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your professional or other affiliation with any person or entity;

Upload, post, publish, email, reproduce, distribute or otherwise transmit any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, "junk mail," "Spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or any other form of solicitation (including, without limitation, the solicitation of users of the Site to become users of other websites or online services competitive with the Site or any Site-related products or services);

Harvest, collect or store information about the users of the Site or use such information for any purpose inconsistent with the purpose of the Site or for the purpose of transmitting or facilitating the transmission of unsolicited bulk electronic mail or communications;

Upload, post, publish, email, reproduce, distribute or otherwise transmit any Content that contains software viruses, worms, time bombs, Trojan horses, or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy, or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment or any other similarly destructive activity, or surreptitiously intercept or expropriate any system, data or personal information;

Disrupt the normal flow of dialogue or otherwise act in a manner that negatively affects other users' ability to engage in real time exchanges through the Site or the Site-related services (including, without limitation, by the excessive use of scripts, sound waves or scrolling);

Interfere with or disrupt the use of the Site or the Site-related services or servers or networks connected to the Site or the Site-related services, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the Site or the Site-related services;

Forge headers or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of any Content uploaded, posted or otherwise transmitted on or through the Site;

Upload, post, publish, email, reproduce, distribute or otherwise transmit any Content that you do not have a right to transmit under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (including, without limitation, inside information, and proprietary and confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under nondisclosure agreements);

Intentionally or unintentionally violate any applicable local, state, national or international laws or any regulations having the force of law;

Modify, adapt, sublicense, translate, sell, distribute, broadcast, exploit for commercial purposes, reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble any portion of the Site or any Site-related products or services; or

Engage in any activity that is contrary to or which would adversely affect the purpose or intention of the Site or the Site-related products or services, including but not limited to, actual or attempted manipulation or corruption, or otherwise affecting the outcome, of the Site-related products or services (in whole or part) by, among other methods, subscribing another party without their authorization or registering multiple subscriptions under the same or different names.

You agree to immediately notify THD of any unauthorized use of the Site or the Site-related products or services, including any breach of security known or suspected by you.

You acknowledge and agree that THD has the right to monitor the Site and the Site-related services and reserves the right, at any time and with or without notice, to remove any Content. THD is not responsible for any failure, non-failure or delay in removing any Content. Furthermore, you acknowledge and agree that THD has the right to preserve Content and to disclose any Content uploaded, posted or otherwise transmitted on or through the Site to any third party in order to: (a) operate the Site properly, (b) enforce the Terms and Conditions, (d) comply with legal obligations or governmental requests, (d) respond to claims that any such Content violates the intellectual property or other rights of third parties, or (e) protect itself or its sponsors, users or the public.

Intellectual Property Rights

All materials contained within the Site and the Site-related products or services are protected by U.S. and international copyright law, trademark law and other intellectual property laws and conventions. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, (a) all materials contained within the Site and the Site-related services are the copyrighted property of THD, unless a different copyright holder is identified in those materials; (b) all trademarks appearing on the Site, including The House Designers, PDF Now! Electronic Bid Set, PDF Bid Set, PDF Plan Package, PDF Construction Set, PDFs Fast!, PDFs Now! and America’s Choice House Plans, are the property of THD, and no other party may use said marks without the express written permission of THD; and (c) as between THD and you, THD is the sole owner of all Content within the Site and the Site-related products and services, including without limitation, all U.S. and international copyrights, trademarks and other intellectual property rights thereto. Except as otherwise specifically provided in the Terms and Conditions, you may not download or save a copy of the Site, any portion of the Site, or any Content within the Site, for any purpose whatsoever. Furthermore, all title and intellectual property rights in and to the materials contained within the Linked Sites is the property of the respective owner of said materials and may be protected by applicable copyright or other intellectual property laws.

Note, that you may download material displayed on the Site for non-commercial, personal use only, provided that you also (a) retain all copyright, trademark and other intellectual property notices contained on the material; (b) do not modify any portion of the material; and (c) retain all attribution with respect to the material (e.g., the link to the page within the Site that contains the material).

The foregoing notice must include the following information: (a) a physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed; (b) identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed (or if multiple copyrighted works located on the website are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works); (c) identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or the subject of infringing activity, and information reasonably sufficient to allow us to locate the material on the website; (d) the name, address, telephone number and email address (if available) of the complaining party; (e) a statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law; and (f) a statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Disclaimer of Warranties

YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT THE SITE, ANY PRODUCTS LICENSED OR PURCHASED THROUGH THE SITE, ANY SITE-RELATED SERVICES AND THE CONTENT UPLOADED, POSTED OR OTHERWISE TRANSMITTED ON OR THROUGH THE SITE ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF TITLE OR NONINFRINGEMENT OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OTHER THAN THOSE WARRANTIES WHICH ARE IMPLIED BY AND INCAPABLE OF EXCLUSION, RESTRICTION OR MODIFICATION UNDER THE LAWS APPLICABLE TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS. THD MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT THE SITE, THE SITE-RELATED PRODUCTS AND SERVICES, OR THE CONTENT UPLOADED, POSTED OR OTHERWISE TRANSMITTED ON OR THROUGH THE SITE, WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, OR THAT THE FOREGOING AND YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF ANY OF THE FOREGOING WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, ACCURATE, RELIABLE, ERROR-FREE, OR SECURE. YOU ASSUME TOTAL RESPONSIBILITY AND RISK FOR YOUR USE OF THE SITE AND THE SITE-RELATED PRODUCTS AND SERVICES (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE LINKED WEBSITES).

YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT THD, ITS SPONSORS, ITS THIRD PARTY CONTENT PROVIDERS AND LICENSORS, AND ITS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE SHAREHOLDERS, MEMBERS, DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE OR OTHER DAMAGES (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, OR DATA) UNDER ANY CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHER THEORY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING IN ANY WAY TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, THE SITE AND THE SITE-RELATED PRODUCTS AND SERVICES (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE LINKED WEBSITES), IMPLEMENTATION OF ANY SITE-RELATED PRODUCTS, AND/OR ANY CONTENT UPLOADED, POSTED, OR OTHERWISE TRANSMITTED ON OR THROUGH THE SITE. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, YOU SPECIFICALLY ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT THD IS NOT LIABLE FOR ANY DEFAMATORY, OFFENSIVE OR ILLEGAL CONDUCT OF OTHER USERS OR THIRD-PARTIES, AND THAT THE RISK OF INJURY FROM THE FOREGOING RESTS ENTIRELY WITH YOU. EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE SPECIFICALLY PROVIDED BELOW IN THE RETURN POLICY, YOUR SOLE REMEDY FOR DISSATISFACTION WITH THE SITE, THE SITE-RELATED PRODUCTS OR SERVICES AND/OR ANY CONTENT UPLOADED, POSTED OR OTHERWISE TRANSMITTED ON OR THROUGH THE SITE IS TO STOP USING THE SITE AND/OR THOSE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES.

THD assumes no responsibility for the deletion or failure to store any Content that you upload, email or otherwise transmit on or through the Site or that you otherwise provide to THD. In addition, in the event of an inaccuracy with or relating to the Site, please inform THD so that THD can attempt to correct it.

You understand that all Content uploaded, posted or otherwise transmitted on or through the Site or otherwise provided to THD, whether publicly or privately, is the sole responsibility of the party from which such Content originated. In many instances, Content uploaded, posted or otherwise transmitted on or through the Site represents the opinions and judgments of the respective information provider or other party who may not be under contract with THD. THD neither endorses nor is responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, advice or statement made on the Site by anyone other than authorized THD employee spokespersons while acting in their official capacities. Under no circumstances will THD be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on any Content uploaded, posted or otherwise transmitted on or through the Site. It is your responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of such Content.

Furthermore, you acknowledge and agree that you are responsible for obtaining and maintaining all computer software, computer hardware and other equipment needed to access and use the Site and the Site-related services, and for all charges related thereto.

Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless THD, its sponsors, its third party content providers and licensors, and its and their respective shareholders, members, directors, officers, employees and agents from and against any and all claims, actions, suits, proceedings, judgments, damages, losses, liabilities, costs and expenses (including, without limitation, reasonable attorney’s fees) arising directly or indirectly out of or in connection with (a) your breach of the Terms and Conditions (including, without limitation, your violation of the Code of Conduct above), (b) any Content uploaded, posted or otherwise transmitted by you on or through the Site or that you otherwise provide to THD and/or (c) your activities in connection with the Site or any Site-related products or services.

Making Purchases

If you wish to license or make purchases of products or services described on the Site, you may be asked by THD or the applicable third party product supplier or service provider to supply certain information, including but not limited to credit card or other payment information. You understand that any such information will be treated by THD in the manner described in its Privacy Policy, available online at http://houseplans.bhg.com/privacy-policy/. You agree that all information that you provide in connection with any such license or purchase will be accurate, complete and current. You agree to pay all charges incurred by users of your account and credit card or other payment mechanism at the prices in effect when such charges are incurred. You will also be responsible for paying any applicable taxes relating to your purchases. You agree, as well, to review and to comply with (a) the terms and conditions of any specific agreement that you enter into with said third party product supplier and/or service provider in connection with the licensing or purchase of any Site-related products or services and (b) as further discussed in the second, third and fourth sentences of the last paragraph of the Terms and Conditions, THD’s additional terms and conditions applicable to the licensing or purchase of any Site-related products or services. Furthermore, THD’s return policy is set forth below.

Return Policy

As a courtesy, THD offers a one-time 14-day exchange policy for non-electronic plan packages for plans that have not been modified, used, marked on or copied. Reproducibles, PDFs, CAD files, study/review sets and PDF bid sets are not exchangeable. In addition, permitted exchanges are subject to a 20% restocking fee and all sales of house plans and customizations/modifications are final.

Before Making Purchases

You acknowledge that there is important information to consider before licensing or purchasing any Site-related products or services. You acknowledge that you have familiarized or will familiarize with the process of licensing or purchasing the types of products and services available on the Site, including, without limitation, by consulting your local building department, builder, architect, engineer or other construction professional.

Submissions

You acknowledge and agree that, by submitting Content to THD, you grant to THD an unrestricted, royalty-free, fully paid-up, perpetual, irrevocable, sublicensable, non-exclusive, worldwide right and license to link to, use, reproduce, transmit, modify, adapt, publish, publicly display or perform, distribute (through multiple tiers of distribution), translate, create derivative works from, export, sell, offer to sell, rent or license such Content (in whole or in part) in connection with the Site or any THD product, service, technology, content, material, specification or documentation and/or to incorporate such Content in other works in any form, media or technology now known or hereafter developed for the full term of any copyright that may exist in such Content. By submitting Content to THD, you acknowledge and agree that you have the authority to grant such rights to THD. In addition, in operating the Site, THD does not solicit, nor does it wish to receive, any confidential, secret or proprietary information or other material from you through or in connection with the Site or Site-related products or services. Any such information or material submitted or sent to THD will therefore be deemed not to be confidential or secret; and, by submitting or sending such information or other material to THD, you also represent and warrant that the information is original to you and that no other party has any rights to the material. (Your Account Registration Data and payment information will, however, be treated by THD in the manner described in its Privacy Policy, available online at https://houseplans.bhg.com/privacy-policy/.)

Further and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, THD, in its sole discretion, may or may not respond to your Feedback or promise to address your Feedback in connection with any of the features or functionalities of the Site or any of the Site-related products or services. In the event that THD uses your Feedback, you grant THD an unrestricted, perpetual, worldwide, exclusive, transferable, irrevocable, sublicensable, royalty-free, fully paid-up license to use, copy, modify, create derivative works of, make, have made, distribute (through multiple tiers of distribution), publicly perform or display, import, export, sell, offer to sell, rent, or license copies of the Feedback as part of or in connection with any THD product, service, technology, content, material, specification or documentation. You warrant that the Feedback does not infringe any copyright or trade secret of any third party, and that you have no knowledge of any patent of any third party that may be infringed by the Feedback (including any implementation thereof recommended by you). You further warrant that your Feedback is not subject to any license terms that would purport to require THD to comply with any additional obligations with respect to the Site and any Site-related or other THD product or service that incorporates your Feedback.

Use of Secure Area and Password

Use of any password-protected area of the Site is restricted to the individual who has been given permission and a password to enter such area (the "Authorized Party"). The password cannot be distributed to others, and the Authorized Party is responsible for any and all damages to THD resulting from the distribution of the Authorized Party’s password. If more than one individual wishes to use a single password belonging to an Authorized Party, such Authorized Party must request permission from THD in writing, it being understood that THD shall be under no obligation to approve any such request.

Modifications

THD shall have the right at any time and for any reason, in its sole discretion, to: (a) modify this Agreement; (b) modify the Site and the Site-related products and services (including, without limitation, removing, eliminating or discontinuing any Content or feature thereof, restricting the hours of availability, or limiting the amount of use permitted); (c) modify any fees or charges for use of the Site, including, without limitation, instituting new or increased fees or charges for the use of the Site or any Site-related products or services or any feature thereof; and/or (d) modify pricing published on the Site for Site-related products or services.

Such modifications shall be deemed effective immediately upon notice thereof, which may be given by means including, but not limited to, posting on the Site, electronic mail or conventional mail. Your use of the Site and the Site-related products or services after such modifications shall be deemed to constitute your acceptance of such modifications. You are expected to review this Agreement periodically to ensure familiarity with the most current version, available online at http://houseplans.bhg.com/terms-of-use/. You agree that THD shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any such modification.

Termination

THD shall have the right, at any time and for any reason, in its sole discretion and with or without notice, to immediately terminate (in whole or in part) the Terms and Conditions, any party's access to and use of the Site, any party’s access to and use of any portion of the Site (including, without limitation, any material from or displayed on the Site), any Site user's password(s) or account(s), and the right of any licensee or purchaser of any Site-related products or services to use such licensed or purchased Sited-related products or services (including, without limitation, in the event of any conduct by any such party, user, licensee or purchaser that THD deems unacceptable, inappropriate or offensive or any breach by any such party, user, licensee, or purchaser of the Terms and Conditions or any applicable law). You agree that THD shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any such termination.

Miscellaneous

This Agreement is entered into in the State of Connecticut, U.S.A., and shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Connecticut, U.S.A., exclusive of its choice of law rules. Each party to this Agreement hereby submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts sitting in Fairfield County in the State of Connecticut, U.S.A., and waives any jurisdictional, venue or inconvenient forum objections to such courts. In any action to enforce this Agreement, the prevailing party will be entitled to costs and reasonable attorney’s fees. In the event that any of the provisions of this Agreement shall be held by a court or other tribunal of competent jurisdiction to be unenforceable, such provisions shall be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary so that this Agreement shall otherwise remain in full force and effect and enforceable. Further, any specific rights or remedies of THD provided in this Agreement shall not be exclusive but shall be cumulative upon all rights and remedies that may be available to THD whether provided by applicable law, in any other agreement between the parties, or otherwise.

This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties hereto pertaining to the subject matter hereof, and any and all prior or contemporaneous written or oral agreements existing between the parties hereto are expressly canceled. Notwithstanding the foregoing, additional terms and conditions will apply if and when you license or purchase Site-related products or services, as well as if you have a signed written agreement with THD, which additional terms and conditions are hereby incorporated by reference in, made a part of, and supplement, this Agreement. Such additional terms and conditions are available at check-out. You may also be subject to additional terms and conditions that may apply if and when you use third party Content, products or services. No waiver by THD of any breach or default hereunder shall be deemed to be a waiver of any preceding or subsequent breach or default; and no such waiver by THD of any breach or default hereunder will be valid or binding unless set forth in writing and duly executed by THD. You may not assign, delegate or otherwise transfer this Agreement or any of your rights and obligations hereunder without THD's prior written consent. Any heading, caption, or paragraph title contained in this Agreement is inserted only as a matter of convenience and in no way defines or explains any paragraph or provision hereof. Furthermore, this Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of your successors and assigns.